Colorado Springs man accused of attempted murder in Loveland pleads not guilty, trial set for March 2025 – Loveland Reporter-Herald

Jesus Lopez-Zavala, the Colorado Springs man charged with two counts of attempted murder among other charges in the 2023 incident, has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial early next year.

The 36-year-old man appeared before 8th District Court Judge Joseph Findlay in Fort Collins on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, saying they were “false.” William Holtz, Lopez-Zavala’s attorney, said a competency evaluation was scheduled for his client, but he was ultimately found competent to proceed.

Deputy District Attorney Erin Butler said her office is withdrawing the plea offer, which carried a sentence of 10 to 32 years in prison, and if convicted, he faces 16 to 48 years on each count of attempted murder. murder.

Findlay scheduled Lopez-Zavala to return for a pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 before a five-day trial that begins on March 17.

Lopez-Zavala was arrested last August and accused of breaking into a home in the 3200 block of Eisenhower Boulevard West and threatening two people with an ax before a fight broke out, injuring him and a man inside the home.

During a preliminary hearing in May A deputy with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office alleged that Lopez-Zavala entered a home in west Loveland in search of a female victim who was inside the home, believing she was having an affair with a man in the home. He is accused of getting into a fight with the man after the break-in, in which Lopez-Zavala was stabbed and the man was hit in the head with an ax; During the hearing in early May, Holtz questioned the severity of the victim’s injuries.

Judge Findlay found probable cause in the case and bound the charges over to trial.

In that case, Lopez-Zavala faces charges of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, a Class 2 felony; first-degree assault with serious bodily injury, category 3 felony; first-degree burglary, a Class 3 felony; two counts of criminal endangerment, a Class 5 felony; criminal mischief, a Class 6 felony; and violation of a preventive measure, as well as five people who increased the sentence for committing a violent crime.

He was also charged in another case with possession of fentanyl, a Class 4 drug felony; resisting arrest, a class 2 misdemeanor; obstructing a law enforcement officer; Class 2 misdemeanor; possession of narcotics, minor offense; and tampering with physical evidence, a Class 1 misdemeanor.